Shell Rotella T4 15w-40 Now SN Rated

[fantastic]

I thought rotella went way of CK-4 and no dual rating. Guess I’m wrong. Interesting things happening. Least we know DELO is dual rated.

You're not wrong, Rotella didn't go with any API Gasoline oil rating when they came out with the CK-4 so that was the case all of this time with no SN rating on any of these bottles but now that appears to be changing & its around the same time they've refreshed their bottles/stickers.

Usually when a manufacturer changes product appearance it's to note the change of something with that product so this bottle change appears to note the new upcoming SN rating. Delo is great oil & has been dual rated but they really reduce the add pack in their 40 weights whereas a lot of other dual rated oils do not reduce it but still get SN rating. But xx-30's have to be reduced with all of them. I like Delo but Mobil seems to be more lenient with rebates from Wal-Mart. It's the evolving times we live in...

Look at the low zinc & phos on this 15w-40. That's why they can't get Ford Power Stroke F1 spec b/c it doesn't have 1000 Phos minimum.
https://pqia.org/chevron-delo-400-sde-sae-15w-40-heavy-duty-diesel-engine-oil/

Welp, I need to include thier new product because this one does meet ford F1 spec
https://www.chevronlubricants.com/e...ll-synthetic-heavy-duty-diesel-motor-oil.html

 

[cptbarkey]

@53' Stude This might explain the somewhat tepid clearance of T4 at AAP.

 

[53' Stude]

@53' Stude This might explain the somewhat tepid clearance of T4 at AAP.

Very possible. Pic I shared was the quarts from AAP. My thought is Rotella is a great oil, we now have a 250 gal “tote” filled with t4 10w30 for ford diesel and Ram with Cummins

 

[fantastic]

Here's where they bumped the base oil not too long ago.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/shell-rotella-t4-15w40.338109/

Here's NOT-SN rated T4 add pack
https://www.thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/1271071-second-oil-analysis-on-rotella-t4-15w40/

Here's the reduced add pack of the Current SN rated T4 that was just posted by @Robvette
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...e-oci-in-a-1993-corvette.372580/#post-6596345

 

[Robvette]

Here's where they bumped the base oil not too long ago.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/shell-rotella-t4-15w40.338109/

Here's NOT-SN rated T4 add pack
https://www.thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/1271071-second-oil-analysis-on-rotella-t4-15w40/

Here's the reduced add pack of the Current SN rated T4 that was just posted by @Robvette
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...e-oci-in-a-1993-corvette.372580/#post-6596345

fwiw - that UOA was 4.5 quarts of Rotella T4 and 1 quart of Lucas oil stabilizer. I am sure some of the additive dilution was caused by the Lucas.

 

[53' Stude]

Here's where they bumped the base oil not too long ago.
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/threads/shell-rotella-t4-15w40.338109/

Here's NOT-SN rated T4 add pack
https://www.thumpertalk.com/forums/topic/1271071-second-oil-analysis-on-rotella-t4-15w40/

Here's the reduced add pack of the Current SN rated T4 that was just posted by @Robvette
https://bobistheoilguy.com/forums/t...e-oci-in-a-1993-corvette.372580/#post-6596345

Thank You for the links Fantastic

 

[fantastic]

fwiw - that UOA was 4.5 quarts of Rotella T4 and 1 quart of Lucas oil stabilizer. I am sure some of the additive dilution was caused by the Lucas.

I took that into consideration & the add pack of your T4 still screams SN gas add pack all over it. It may have changed it some with the stabilizer but I'm betting not much. Thanks for providing that info! Hopefully we'll see more T4 UOA since it's now considered a synthetic blend.

 

[56Cummins]

.....

Welp, I need to include thier new product because this one does meet ford F1 spec
https://www.chevronlubricants.com/e...ll-synthetic-heavy-duty-diesel-motor-oil.html

I looked at the pds for xsp 15w40, the one I found has cummins and detroit certs, but was "recommended" for ford F1.

javascriptpenMSDS("PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=663457&docFormat=PDF%22)

 

[copano]

I fired off an email to Shell inquiring about the change, hopefully I'll hear back soon, in the mean time I'll send off a voa sample this week to compare to the one I had done from last October.
Of further note, Walmart seems to be out of stock online for T4

 

[kschachn]

I looked at the pds for xsp 15w40, the one I found has cummins and detroit certs, but was "recommended" for ford F1.

That could be the proper language for a material specification. Besides, it shows up on Ford's list:

https://www.fcsdchemicalsandlubricants.com/additionalinfo/dieseloilsWSSM2C171F1.PDF

 

[copano]

The reply I received from Shell this morning.

Enquiry: Change in Rotella T4 with API SN rating
Response:
Hello Steve,
Trust you are well. Rotella Multi-grade oils are still API CK-4 and we haven't reduced the ZDDP level even with the API SN rating. There will still be approx. 1200 ppm of Zinc and 1100 ppm of Phosphorus.

 

[fantastic]

I fired off an email to Shell inquiring about the change, hopefully I'll hear back soon, in the mean time I'll send off a voa sample this week to compare to the one I had done from last October.
Of further note, Walmart seems to be out of stock online for T4

The reply I received from Shell this morning.

Enquiry: Change in Rotella T4 with API SN rating
Response:
Hello Steve,
Trust you are well. Rotella Multi-grade oils are still API CK-4 and we haven't reduced the ZDDP level even with the API SN rating. There will still be approx. 1200 ppm of Zinc and 1100 ppm of Phosphorus.

Does the one you want to sample have the SN rating on the back? I would wait for a bottle that has that rating on it first for testing but that's your call.

There is no way they can get the 10w-30 CK-4 to get SN rating with the same add pack so their email may be correct for the 40 but not the 30.

That is an interesting email & I'm sure we'll get down to the bottom of it via Oil analysis. Thanks for investigating!

 

[fantastic]

I looked at the pds for xsp 15w40, the one I found has cummins and detroit certs, but was "recommended" for ford F1.

javascriptpenMSDS("PDSDetailPage.aspx?docDataId=663457&docFormat=PDF%22)

That Delo has the correct 1000 PPM Minimum that Ford wants for their F1 spec.

 

[copano]

Does the one you want to sample have the SN rating on the back? I would wait for a bottle that has that rating on it first for testing but that's your call.

There is no way they can get the 10w-30 CK-4 to get SN rating with the same add pack so their email may be correct for the 40 but not the 30.

That is an interesting email & I'm sure we'll get down to the bottom of it via Oil analysis. Thanks for investigating!

Duel rated T4 is all my local Walmart had in stock when I was there this weekend, I didn't buy any as I was concerned with the SN rating, but next time I'm there I'll get a jug and send off for a VOA just in case Shell was blowing smoke in the reply.

I read somewhere that xx-40 oils are exempt from the required lower ZDDP levels for SN.
But I have not been able to verify that claim.
And speculation on my part perhaps it's why SN doesn't appear on the API donut.

 

[kschachn]

Duel rated T4 is all my local Walmart had in stock when I was there this weekend, I didn't buy any as I was concerned with the SN rating, but next time I'm there I'll get a jug and send off for a VOA just in case Shell was blowing smoke in the reply.

I read somewhere that xx-40 oils are exempt from the required lower ZDDP levels for SN.
But I have not been able to verify that claim.
And speculation on my part perhaps it's why SN doesn't appear on the API donut.

It's easy to check for a current API license on the API EOLCS Directory.

 

[adam8833]

It's easy to check for a current API license on the API EOLCS Directory.

Just checked and T4 Triple Protection does not show API certified for SN.

 

[kschachn]

Which may take you back to the title of the thread, “rated” vs. licensed.

 

[fantastic]

Duel rated T4 is all my local Walmart had in stock when I was there this weekend, I didn't buy any as I was concerned with the SN rating, but next time I'm there I'll get a jug and send off for a VOA just in case Shell was blowing smoke in the reply.

I read somewhere that xx-40 oils are exempt from the required lower ZDDP levels for SN.
But I have not been able to verify that claim.
And speculation on my part perhaps it's why SN doesn't appear on the API donut.

Are you seeing 10w-30 Rotella T4 with the SN rating on the back? "Meets" is different from "Approved" for. Approved is a licensed product. "Meets" is the wild west terminology that may or may not be a licensed product. But if they're claiming meets SN on the 30's they should still conform to the additive limitations regardless if they are paying for the licensing. Let me know if you can... Thanks!

 

[copano]

Are you seeing 10w-30 Rotella T4 with the SN rating on the back? "Meets" is different from "Approved" for. Approved is a licensed product. "Meets" is the wild west terminology that may or may not be a licensed product. But if they're claiming meets SN on the 30's they should still conform to the additive limitations regardless if they are paying for the licensing. Let me know if you can... Thanks!

I only looked at 15w-40 T4, the change to SN was reported less than a week ago.
From the VOA's I've seen 10w-30 SN rated T4 is below 1000 ppm in both P and Zn.

 

[kschachn]

Are you seeing 10w-30 Rotella T4 with the SN rating on the back? "Meets" is different from "Approved" for. Approved is a licensed product. "Meets" is the wild west terminology that may or may not be a licensed product. But if they're claiming meets SN on the 30's they should still conform to the additive limitations regardless if they are paying for the licensing. Let me know if you can... Thanks!

There is no such thing as an API approval and as such “meets” is an appropriate term for an API license. You can really only correlate against the ELOCS Directory or perhaps by asking the blender.